6.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Comedy about the proverbial genie who comes out of a bottle (a table lamp in this instance) to serve his new master. The only problem is that instead of helping his master, the genie (Burl Ives) tends to get his master (Tony Randall) into more predicaments than he gets him out of.
Starring: Tony Randall, Burl Ives, Barbara Eden, Kamala Devi, Edward Andrews (I)Comedy | Insignificant |
Fantasy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Harry Keller's "The Brass Bottle" (1964) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include exclusive audio commentary by critic Lee Gambin featuring an interview with Barbara Eden as well as vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Brass Bottle arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.
The film can look quite good at times, with well-lit sequences typically producing the most pleasing visuals. However, the more you pay attention to smaller details, the clearer it becomes that there is room for various meaningful improvements. For example, delineation and depth can be quite a bit better, so you will easily notice that finer nuances tend to struggle a lot. A combination of weak grain and crushed blacks can reveal some pretty odd anomalies that further collapse native detail as well (see the black jackets in screencapture #12 and 13). Density levels can be improved as well, though this will occur naturally if the grain structure is proper. The good news is that the master that was used to produce this release does not reveal traces of compromising digital corrections, so the the visuals do not appear harsh, boosted, or smeary. Also, despite the crushing issues, the overall color balance is quite nice. Again, there are just various small nuances and highlights that are not as convincing as they need to be. Image stability is good. All in all, I would describe the current technical presentation of The Brass Bottle as decent, at times even good, but ideally the entire film can and should look more convincing on Blu-ray. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.
The lossless track sounded very good on my system. Admittedly, the original soundtrack does not have any material that can produce serious dynamic contrasts, but the basics, like clarity and sharpness, I thought were very good. Perhaps there is a bit of room for minor rebalancing work in the upper register where a few times the sound became a tad thin, but this would be a minor cosmetic adjustment. There are no encoding anomalies to report.
It feels like this is the perfect time of the year to see The Brass Bottle, a charming little film that reimagines the old tale about Aladdin and his magic lamp. However, even though Tony Randall and Burl Ives' banter is quite good, I think that the film could and should have been a lot more exciting, perhaps even provocative in some unexpected ways. As it is, it seems too safe and repetitive, from time to time even a bit too silly. Kino Lorber's Blu-ray release is sourced from an older but mostly decent master that was supplied by Universal Pictures. RECOMMENDED.
Limited Edition - SOLD OUT
1962
1961-1965
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1968
Warner Archive Collection
1968
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1963
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1957
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1967
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1943
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1979
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